CARE Responds to the Governor’s New Expensive Energy Mandates

Rob Lapsley, chairman of Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy (CARE), issued the following statement in response to the governor’s Executive Order banning affordable gas-powered cars in California: “From the last publicly available data, true zero-emission vehicle sales accounted for just 5.6 percent of California vehicle sales. Clearly, despite significant incentives and repeated attempts to create a market by regulations from California Air Resources Board over the past three decades, Californians are still not choosing electric vehicles. Costs remain too high, charging infrastructure remains too sporadic and, now, there’s no guarantee there will be reliable electricity available to charge an onslaught of new cars putting even more pressure on the grid. “Today, the governor stood in front of electric cars costing more than $50,000 and told millions of unemployed Californians that affordable cars will no longer be available for purchase in just 15 years. In 2019, 2.3 million Californians were forced into poverty because of California’s high cost of living, driven in part by expensive mandates increasing energy costs on all residents. There are ways we can achieve our emissions goals without forcing even more families into poverty or out of this state entirely.”

Key Facts About California Energy Costs:

• In the past 12 months, Californian residents have paid $6.2 billion more than the average ratepayer in the rest of the nation for the same amount of energy.

• Residential bills vary widely by region, with an estimated household usage in 2018 as much as 59% higher in the interior regions compared to the milder climate coastal areas.

• In the past 12 months, Californians paid $16.9 billion more compared to the average gasoline prices in the rest of the nation, plus another $3.1 billion for diesel.

• Combined, these administratively imposed energy costs total at least an additional $44 billion a year above the average.

• Cumulatively, costs of existing regulations now add up to $3,700 per household if assessed at the average cost of energy in other states.

• Compared to 2010 when the state’s formal program began, that $44 billion plus a year in costs has produced emissions reductions of only 5.4% through 2017. And much of this outcome was the result of favorable weather—in this case snow that allowed hydroelectric sources to replace one fifth of natural gas generation in 2016 compared to the average for 2014-15.

• Climate change actions both public and private have largely performed the same in California and, if not somewhat better, in the rest of the US but at far lower cost to their residents and struggling small businesses.

• In the latest data from US Energy Information Administration, Texas generates nearly twice as much of its in-state electricity from wind and solar as California.

• Our state only ranks 14th in the share of in-state generation that comes from non-CO₂ sources.

About CARE: Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy (CARE) is a broad-based coalition of small businesses, community groups, local business organizations, and statewide associations that are calling on policymakers to prioritize affordability and working Californians when making energy policy decisions.